The short history of San Francisco's coolest commute: the air ferry

Today there are many ways to get from Oakland to San Francisco. There’s driving, of course. There’s also BART. You could take a bus. Or you could even hop on a boat. But the fastest commute ever executed between the two cities began in 1914 when the Bay Area got its first-ever seaplane ferry.

At 10 cents per passenger, the Airy Ferry — cheekily named by a San Francisco Chronicle reader — promised a six-minute ride between Oakland and San Francisco. It was billed as the ideal solution for busy commuters who had neither the time nor the inclination for a 30-minute ferry ride, often blighted by bad weather and choppy waters.

The Curtiss flying boat had two propellers and a 100-horsepower engine that flew commuters at a rate of 70 miles per hour. It was equipped with searchlights for the oft-foggy weather and called “unsinkable” by the Chronicle.

The first flight took off on May 14, 1914 at 3 p.m. from the Mission St. dock with a famous passenger in tow: legendary San Francisco mayor James Rolph. The flight went off without a hitch, but two days later, the Airy Ferry suffered its first accident. Halfway across the bay, the plane’s engine died. The pilot was able to safely land in the water, but a rescue boat had to tow the plane back to its dock.

Luckily, adventurous Californians were the perfect group of citizens to take on the new thrill of air travel.

“It took a little bit of fortitude,” SFO Museum Assistant Director of Aviation John H. Hill says. “It was statistically not as safe as it was to fly today. It was very, very expensive but to even know someone who had been in an airplane was very exciting. So to be on one must have been very exciting to certain types of people.”

For nervous nellies, commuters could rest assured their pilot was one of the best in the business. Though just 24 years old, Silas Christofferson was one of the most famous airmen in the state. In July 1914, he set an American record by flying over Mt. Whitney, topping an altitude of 15,728 feet.

While flying the air ferry, Christofferson also became famous for his photography, snapping stunning images of San Francisco from the sky.

It is the “best and most perfect photograph ever taken from an airship,” the Chronicle proclaimed when it ran his image of the Ferry Building.

Photo: The Chronicle

A photograph taken by early California aviator Silas Christofferson from an air ferry seaplane.

A photograph taken by early California aviator Silas Christofferson...

But as was often in the case in early aviation, Christofferson’s glory was short-lived. In Nov. 1915, while piloting a new type of biplane, the plane “turned turtle,” as the Chronicle so flippantly put it, and crashed. The crash came down to operator error: The new plane used foot controls instead of the usual shoulder controls. Out of habit, Christofferson went to control the plane with his shoulder, and the plane “buckled sharply and crashed to earth, nose down.” Although conscious when he was removed from the wreckage, Christofferson died later that day due to internal injuries.

Perhaps the Airy Ferry was just a bit ahead of its time, because when the concept was revived in the 1930s, it was a sensational success.

In 1930, three seaplanes operated by Air Ferries Ltd., took off from the Ferry Building for their first commute trip to the East Bay. The $1.50 service took off every 15 minutes and used the Loening Amphibian biplane.

Within the first 60 days, the Air Ferries Ltd., service had flown over 21,000 passengers — the same number as all commercial airlines in the United States in 1929.

“It was one business that was just taking off,” Hill says.

An air ferry in flight over San Francisco. From the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.

An air ferry in flight over San Francisco. From the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.

Photo: New York Public Library Digital Collections

Photo: New York Public Library Digital Collections

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An air ferry in flight over San Francisco. From the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.

An air ferry in flight over San Francisco. From the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy.

Photo: New York Public Library Digital Collections

The short history of San Francisco's coolest commute: the air ferry

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The company added a $3.50 fare to and from Vallejo and a route to Alameda. Adding to the company’s popularity was its proximity to business centers. The Oakland flight left from Jack London Square and landed at Pier 5, allowing busy commuters to disembark by the Ferry Building and walk right to work.

For a while, Air Ferries Ltd., claimed to be the busiest air transit line in the world. But again, death swiftly curtailed air ferry service.

In 1933, a plane operated by Air Ferries Ltd.’s parent company, Varney Speed Lines, was near the end of a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco. It was well past sunset and pouring rain, and the pilot somehow lost his bearings. He went plunging into a home at 1205 144th Avenue in present-day San Leandro.

The plane “struck the Arisa residence, exploded and dove into an orchard, after striking a tree, an outhouse and a residence adjoining” the Chronicle reported. Thirteen people died, including the pilot and two passengers aboard the plane.

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Although the accident didn’t involve a seaplane, it spelled the end of Varney Speed Lines in the Bay Area. When they officially ended service in August 1933, they said that “competition was too keen to permit continued profitable operation.” The deadliest air crash in Northern California history certainly didn’t help.

The crash didn’t mark the end of Varney, though. In 1930, it was bought by United Aircraft and Transport Corporation. Today, you probably know it better simply as United Airlines.

The real decline of the air ferry came with the opening of the Bay Bridge in 1936. It was cheaper and easier to drive, and with the advent of the car commute, the air ferry service permanently shuttered.

The romance and convenience of a short haul across the bay on a seaplane still holds its appeal, however. But could San Francisco ever revive the Airy Ferry?

“Putting a business model together to succeed on that would probably be a challenge,” Hill admits with a laugh. “Maybe someday we’ll get those flying cars they’ve been promising us and do it that way.”